Suspension walker

ABSTRACT

A suspension walker having a hard, outer boot shell with upright brace members attached on either side and a soft boot receivable thereon. The soft boot has a main pad in it with a removable, fitting pad or pads on top of the main pad. A cuff member is also provided that is securable to the patient&#39;s calf and to the upright brace members. In use, the fitting pad is removed during the initial fitting and subsequent uses to suspend the patient&#39;s foot in the walker. The cuff member is also infinitely adjustable along the brace members to vary the fit as desired.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/658,069 filed Sep. 9, 2003, which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of suspension walkers and moreparticularly to the field of such walkers that transfer weight normallyborne by the patient's foot to his or her calf.

2. Discussion of the Background

Many people and diabetics in particular develop sores or ulcers on thesoles of their feet. To heal, they must either stay off their feetaltogether or use a pressure relieving orthosis or brace. Generally,these orthoses are of two designs.

In the first design as typified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,834 to Grim, theorthosis is provided with adjustable pads (see its FIGS. 7-12) in whichthe contour and/or density of the pad sections is modified. In themodification of FIG. 8 of this patent, for example, a piece of asectionalized pad is removed at 186 in an effort to relieve pressure onthe area of the sore. This first approach has not met with great successas the gap (in the case of FIG. 8 of this patent) or the contour/densitychanges of the other figures of this patent tend to present their ownpressure or rubbing points and may make new sores or make the existingsore worse. The removed section in particular often creates a suction onthe sore as the patient walks that aggravates it in addition to thesides of the gap rubbing on the area around the sore creating new sores.

In a second design commonly known as custom suspension walkers, theconcept is to transfer some of the weight normally borne by the foot tothe patient's calf. In doing so, a leather or similar wrap or cuff fitsaround the calf of the patient wherein the cuff is secured to thepatient's calf and to upright braces extending downwardly to a hard bootor shoe. In use, a large portion (e.g., 50%) of the patient's weight isthen transferred to his calf and off of his foot. In essence, thepatient's foot is suspended at least to the extent of the weight borneby the calf via the cuff and braces extending downwardly to the shoe.

In one prior technique for making a suspension walker, a negative castof the patient's foot is first taken. The cast is then cut down thefront so the patient can remove his foot and the cut cast is sent to acustom manufacturer. The manufacturer can subsequently follow one ofmany procedures to make a custom walker. In one procedure, a positivecast is made from the hollow, negative cast and a leather cuff issweated (tightly fitted) about the calf area. The cuff is then mountedon the vertical braces at a height slightly greater (e.g., ½ inch) thanthe true position of the original cast. In use, the person puts his calfin the cuff and laces it up. In doing so, the cuff fits the calf butsince the cuff has been raised on the braces, the effect is that thefoot is slightly suspended in the shoe with the calf via the cuff andbraces now bearing some of the patient's weight.

In another procedure, the negative cast is cut below where the cuffwould be and a spacer inserted to in essence raise the normal positionof the calf and cuff. The leather cuff is then sweated (fitted) to thecalf of the positive cast but unlike the first procedure, the cuff canbe attached to the brace members at the same level as the cast and doesnot need to be raised. Because the positive cast has the calf areaslightly higher than normal, the end result is thus the same as in thefirst procedure (i.e., weight is transferred to the calf and the foot issuspended).

Current suspension walkers and the fitting techniques discussed aboveare very effective; however, they have two, primary drawbacks. First andforemost is the time. That is, the injured patient normally needs awalker at the same time (i.e., immediately) he complains of or isdiagnosed with the sore. However, the custom manufacture and the fittingprocedures mentioned above normally take days and often weeks. Thepatient also usually needs to make a follow-up visit to the doctor ormanufacturer to make sure the fit is correct and he knows how to use thewalker. Second, custom walkers are relatively expensive as they are verylabor intensive at the manufacturer level and as previously indicatednormally require multiple fitting trips to the physician, practitioner,or therapist in addition to the original casting person.

With the above in mind, the present invention was developed. With it, asuspension walker is provided that can be immediately fitted to thepatient in the office of the physician, practitioner, or therapist. Thewalker avoids the need for taking castings and the custom work mentionedabove. It can also be made available in prefabricated sizes and for lessexpense as there is very little labor involved in fitting the walker tothe patient and training the patient in its proper use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention involves a suspension walker. The walker includes a hard,outer boot shell with upright brace members attached on either side. Asoft boot is received in the shell and has a main pad in it with aremovable, fitting pad or pads on top of the main pad. The soft boot hasa tongue and two side flaps that open up to expose the inside of thesoft boot and to receive the patient's foot. A cuff member is alsoprovided that is securable to the patient's calf and to the uprightbrace members. To fit the patient, the cuff member is attachedcomfortably about the patient's calf and then the patient puts his footinto the open boot. Normally, the patient is sitting down as he puts hisfoot into the boot atop the main pad and the removable, fitting pad. Upto this point, the upright brace members preferably have plastic coversover them. In this regard, the cuff member has one portion of hook andloop or VELCRO® fasteners on each outer side. Additionally, the bracemembers have the other portions of hook and loop fasteners on theirrespective insides. In this way and with the patient's foot in a fittedposition in the soft boot, the plastic covers can be removed from thebrace members wherein the cuff member will be secured to the bracemembers at the desired position via the hook and loop fasteners.

The fitting pad can then be manually removed and the tongue and sideflaps of the soft boot closed with the result that the foot is at leastpartially suspended via the cuff and brace members on the main pad. In atypical procedure, the fitting pad may be ½ inch thick for the fittingstep wherein 50% or so of the patient's weight is transferred off thefoot to the calf and via the cuff and brace members to the hard, outerboot shell.

With this new design, the suspension walker is immediately available foruse by the patient to begin healing the sore. Additionally, thephysician, practitioner, or therapist can easily and quickly set theproper or desired degree of weight suspension by using differentthicknesses of the removable, fitting pad or pads (e.g., ¼ or ½ inch pador the two together to equal a ¾ inch pad). This is done at the firstoffice visit with immediate feedback from the patient on how it feelsversus the often imprecision and follow-up fittings nearly always neededwith present custom walkers, which have many steps done without thepatient present.

Another fundamental advantage of the present design is that the patienton subsequent days can then duplicate the fitting originally done by thephysician, practitioner, or therapist. In doing so, the patiently onlyhas to re-insert the fitting pad(s) into the soft boot with the cuffmember already attached in the desired position to the brace members bythe hook and loop fasteners. The cuff member can subsequently be lacedup with the patient's foot in the soft boot followed by the removal ofthe fitting pad(s). In contrast, the prior walkers required someexperimentation and mental input by the patient on subsequent days totry to duplicate the exact location of the cuff member on the calf togive the desired amount of suspension. With diabetic patients that oftenhave little feeling in their feet and legs, this can be a substantialproblem. Further, if the original fit needs to be modified (e.g.,thicker or thinner fitting pad), the hook and loop fasteners between thecuff and brace members can be readily and infinitely adjusted. This isan important advantage as the area of the patient's leg/foot oftenchanges (e.g., swells or atrophies) over time. Further, the presentdesign can be prefabricated in various sizes greatly reducing the costover current, custom walkers made from castings of the patient's footand lower leg.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the suspension walker of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the suspension walker.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the hard, outer boot shell and thesoft boot received thereon.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the soft boot of the suspension walker.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the soft boot of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the soft boot with its side flapsand tongue open to receive the patient's foot.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8-13 illustrate the preferred fitting method of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a view taken along line 14-14 of FIG. 13 illustrating one ofthe strap members that can be wrapped around the brace members.

FIG. 15 illustrates the use of a second, removable fitting pad in thefitting method of the present invention.

FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate the manner in which the patient cansubsequently put on the suspension walker to duplicate the originalfitting position set by the physician, practitioner, or therapist. FIGS.16 and 16 a also illustrate how the physician, practitioner, ortherapist can choose from a variety of different, prefabricated sizes ofeach piece of the suspension walker to best fit the patient.

FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate the elastic, heel section of the cuff memberto aid the patient in putting on and taking off the cuff member.

FIGS. 20-22 including FIG. 20 a illustrate an alternate manner ofreleasably securing the cuff member to the patient's calf combing thebenefit of the even pressure of laces with the convenience of a quickattachment arrangement such as hook and loop fasteners.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As best seen in FIG. 1, the suspension walker 1 of the present inventionincludes a hard, outer boot shell 3 with upright brace members 5respectively extending upwardly to positions adjacent each side of thepatient's calf 2. Positioned within the boot shell 3 is a soft boot 7 toreceive the patient's foot. The suspension walker 1 further includes acuff member 9 securable by laces 11 or other means to the patient's calf2 and securable by pairs of mating hook and loop fasteners 13 and 15(see also FIG. 2) to the upright brace members 5 of the hard, outer bootshell 3. The pairs of hook and loop fasteners 13 and 15 or otherreleasable attaching means as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 preferablyhave one member (e.g., hook fastener 13 in FIG. 2) of each pairextending vertically along the inside surfaces of the brace members 5and the other member (e.g., loop fastener 15) of each fastener pairmounted on each outer side of the cuff member 9.

The hard, outer boot shell 3 and soft boot 7 as shown in FIG. 3 areremovably attached to each other (e.g., by hook and loop fasteners 17and 19). The soft boot 7 itself (see FIG. 4) has foldable side flaps 21and 23 and a foldable tongue 25 with an adjustable heel area ofoverlapping and releasably securable pieces 27 and 29. The soft boot 7as further illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 has a main pad 31 (which can bemulti-layered as shown with layers 31′ and 31″ or a single layer) and aremovable, fitting pad 33 stacked atop the main pad 31 (see FIG. 5). Thefitting pad 33 preferably has a finger loop 35 on the toe end thereofand flaps 21, 23 and tongue 25 of the soft boot 7 can be opened as shownin FIGS. 6 and 7.

In the preferred fitting method of the present invention as shown inFIGS. 8-13, the cuff member 9 is secured by the laces 11 about thepatient's socked calf 2 (see FIG. 8). With the flaps 21,23 and tongue 25of the soft boot 7 opened (see again FIG. 8) and with tubular, plasticcover member 37 preferably over each brace member 5, the patient's foot4 is received in the soft boot 7 (FIG. 10) atop the removable, fittingpad 33. The tubular cover members 37 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) in this regardare preferably positioned over the brace members 5 at this point to actas barriers to the engagement of the pairs of hook and loop fasteners 13and 15 respectively on the insides of the brace members 5 and the outersides of the cuff member 9. Consequently, the cuff member 9 can bereadily slid between and past the brace members 5 from the position ofFIG. 8 to the position of FIG. 10. The patient can be standing duringthis but is preferably sitting as in FIG. 10 to comfortably place his orher foot 2 in the soft boot 7 atop the removable, fitting pad 33preferably with less than his or her full normal weight on the foot 4and removable, fitting pad 33.

With the patient's calf 2 and foot 4 positioned as desired by thephysician, practitioner, or therapist in FIG. 10, the fitting methodthen proceeds wherein the tubular cover members 37 (which to this pointhave acted as barriers to the engagement of the pairs of hook and loopfasteners 13 1 and 15) are removed as illustrated in FIG. 11. The pairsof mating hook and loop fasteners 13 and 15 are then secured together asalso shown in FIG. 11. With the cuff member 9 secured to the verticallyextending, upright brace members 5, the fitting pad 33 can now beremoved (see FIG. 12) by, for example, hooking a finger in the loop 35on the end of the fitting pad 33. The side flaps 21, 23 and tongue 25are thereafter closed over the patient's foot 4 (see FIG. 13) with flaps21 and 23 fastened together with hoop and loop fasteners. Straps such as39 in FIGS. 1 and 2 if desired can be included over the closed flaps 21and 23 to comfortably hold the patient's foot 4 in place. Further, ifdesired, one or more strap members 41 (see FIGS. 13 and 14) can bewrapped around and secured to the outsides of the brace members 5 viahook and loop fasteners 13′ and 43 (see FIG. 14) to aid in keeping thebrace members 5 and cuff member 9 securely attached to one another. Thestrap members 41 in this regard can be a simple arrangement of buckle 45and elongated strip 47 as in FIG. 14 extending about the brace members 5and back on itself through the buckle 45. The strip 47 can then beadditionally secured in place to itself by hook and loop fasteners 49and 51 along the overlapping sides of the strip 47.

In the position of FIG. 13 following the fitting method of FIGS. 8-13,the patient's foot 4 is now at least partially suspended in the walker1. That is, at least a portion of the patient's weight normally appliedto his or her foot 4 is now transferred to and borne by the patient'scalf 2 via the cuff member 9 secured to the brace members 5 of the hard,outer boot shell 3. Consequently, as the patient walks or otherwisemoves around, the patient's foot 4 does not bear the weight it normallywould. Depending upon how the patient is moving and any other aids he orshe may be using (e.g., crutches, cane), whatever weight that wouldnormally be applied to the foot 4 is at least partially transferred tohis or her calf 2 and off of the foot 4. With the patient only using thesuspension walker 1 of FIG. 13 of the present invention, the weighttransferred during a normal stride with the other foot off the groundcould be virtually any percentage, but preferably is in the range of atleast 10%-75% and more preferably in the range of 40%-60%. In mostcases, the higher the percentage of weight transferred, the betterincluding up to 100% if the patient can otherwise safely handle it(e.g., maintain his or her balance). In most applications, the patient'sheel as shown in FIG. 13 will actually be spaced or suspended (e.g.,3/16 or ¼ inch) above the main pad 31.

To assist in fitting the patient to transfer as much as desired of hisor her such normal weight to the calf 2, the removable, fitting pad 33can be made as thick or thin as needed. Also, a second, removablefitting pad such as 33′ in FIG. 15 with finger loop 35′ (or anyadditional number of them) can be placed atop the first fitting pad 33.In this regard, it is anticipated the fitting pad 33, for example, maybe ½ inch thick and the second fitting pad 33′ on the order of ¼ inchthick. The fitting pads 33 and 33′ could then be used individually(i.e., as separate ½ or ¼ inch adjustments) or together as in FIG. 15 tomake an adjustment of ¾ inch. It is noted as to the range of therelative positioning of the cuff member 9 vertically on the bracemembers 5 that the cuff member 9 is preferably infinitely adjustable toas precisely as possible fit the patient's needs. That is, the cuffmember 9 of the preferred embodiment can be positioned at virtually anydesired location vertically along each brace member 5 within the limitsof the overlapping, vertically extending hook and loop fasteners 13,15.The cuff member 9 is thus infinitely, adjustably securable to each bracemember 5 in any desired location vertically along a predetermined lengthof each brace member 5. Also, the fasteners 15 of the cuff member 9could be portions of one, continuous member but preferably are separatestrips as shown. It is additionally noted that the hook and loopfasteners mentioned throughout the description of the invention could beany other releasable securing means but hook and loop ones arepreferred.

A great advantage of the fitting method of FIGS. 8-13 is that it can bedone in one, simple visit with the physician, practitioner, ortherapist. In contrast as discussed above, custom suspension walkersoften take weeks and multiple trips to make and fit. Additionally and tothe extent it is desirable to adjust the fit of FIGS. 8-13, the fittingmethod can be easily and quickly redone to position the cuff member 9 atvirtually any number of infinite locations along the brace members 5. Afurther advantage of the present invention is that virtually all of thepieces (e.g., boot shell 3, soft boot 7, and cuff member 9 of FIG. 16)of the suspension walker 1 can be prefabricated in various sizes, as forexample, the respective smaller sizes of boot shell 3′, soft boot 7′,and cuff member 9′ of FIG. 16 a. In this manner, the physician,practitioner, or therapist can easily select the proper size of eachpiece from a variety of them on hand. The patient can then be properlyfitted and begin using the suspension walker 1 immediately to relieveweight from the damaged foot and to begin the healing process. Nowaiting or delay to receive the walker is involved. With diabetic andother patients as discussed above, this is extremely important.

Once the initial, fitting process is accomplished as in FIGS. 8-13, thesame fit and unweighting of FIG. 13 can be subsequently duplicated bythe patient by himself or herself on later uses of the suspension walker1 of the present invention. More specifically and as illustrated inFIGS. 16 and 17, the patient in subsequent uses need only place his orher foot 4 into the cuff member 9 (FIG. 16) and atop the removable,fitting pad 33 of FIG. 17. The removable, fitting pad 33 in this regardhas been replaced atop the multi-layered main pad 31 after the prior useof the suspension walker 1. In the position of FIG. 17, the laces 11 orother securing means can then be tightened to secure the cuff member 9to the calf 2. The steps of FIGS. 12 and 13 can thereafter be repeatedand the suspension walker 1 is again properly fitted in the identicalposition originally set by the physician, practitioner, or therapist. Asan aid to sliding the patient's foot 4 into and out of the cuff member9, an elastic, expandable heel section 53 is provided at the lower reararea of the cuff member 9 (see FIGS. 18 and 19). In use as best seen inFIG. 18, the heel section 53 expands as the patient would pull up on thecuff member 9 while inserting his or her foot 4. Conversely, in removingthe cuff member 9, the heel section 53 expands as the patient would pushdown on the cuff member 9 while withdrawing his or her foot 4.

As mentioned above and although hook and loop fasteners have primarilybeen used throughout the description of the present invention toreleasably secure or attach the various members together, otherreleasable securing means (e.g., buckles, straps, snaps, buttons) couldbe used if desired. Also, the suspension walker 1 preferably uses laces11 to removably secure the cuff member 9 to the patient's calf 2although other securing means (e.g., hook and loop fasteners, buckles,snaps) could be used. Laces in this use are preferred as they create amore evenly distributed pressure over the calf area.

In this last regard, FIGS. 20-22 illustrate an alternate way ofreleasably securing the cuff member 9 to the patient's calf 2. Thisalternative manner combines the benefit of laces (i.e., even pressure)with the convenience of a quick attachment arrangement (e.g., hook andloop fasteners). More specifically as shown in FIG. 20, each set ofupper and lower laces 11 is passed through eyelets 55 on each side piece9′ of the cuff member 9. The free ends 11′ of the laces 11 are thengathered and releasably secured in place adjacent one of the side pieces9′ by respective clamp members 57 (see FIG. 20 a). The clamp members 57can be free standing as in FIGS. 20 and 20 a or mounted to the sidepiece 9′ if desired. The two sets of laces 11 as shown in FIG. 20 arepreferably provided in a mirror image manner. In use, the strips 59 towhich the other ends 11″ of the laces 11 are attached (e.g., sewn) arethereafter crossed over (see FIG. 21) to the respective other side 9′ ofthe cuff member 9 to pull the respective sets of laces 11 tight. Thestrips 59 are subsequently wrapped around the brace members 5 and cuffmember 9 and around on themselves as in FIG. 22. The strips 59 (see FIG.20) like straps 41 in FIGS. 13 and 14 have mating hook and loopfasteners 61 and 63 on opposite sides of each strip 59 and can therebybe secured in place (FIG. 22) to each other and to the brace members 5.An additional, top strip 65 between buckles 67 as shown in FIG. 22 canalso be provided if desired and similarly secured in place by hook andloop fasteners.

In the alternative manner of FIGS. 20-22, the cuff member 9 can beeasily and quickly put on and taken off the patient's calf 2.Additionally if needed, the effective lengths of the laces 11 of eachset can be individually or collectively shortened by releasing the clampmembers 57 (e.g., depressing member 58 in FIG. 20 a) and pulling thelace ends 11′ away from the cuff member 9 in FIG. 20. Similarly, theeffective lengths can be lengthened by pulling the other lace ends 11″or attached strips 59 away from the cuff member 9 with the clamp members57 released. As indicated above and with the alternate design of FIGS.20-22, the benefit of laces (i.e., even pressure) with the convenienceof a quick attachment method (e.g., hook and loop fasteners) isachieved. Although specifically shown in use to releasably secure thecuff member 9 about the patient's calf 2, the alternate design of FIGS.20-22 could be used to removably secure any member about any part of thepatient's body or about any object.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed in detail, it to be understood that various changes andmodifications could be made without departing from the scope of theinvention.

1-41. (canceled)
 42. (not entered)
 43. The suspension walker of claim 42wherein said cuff member is infinitely, adjustably securable to saidbrace members by respective pairs of mating hook and loop fastenersrespectively mounted vertically along said cuff member and each of saidbrace members.
 44. The suspension walker of claim 43 wherein each bracemember has inner and outer sides and one of each pair of mating hook andloop fasteners is mounted vertically on the inner side of each bracemember.
 45. The suspension walker of claim 42 wherein said cuff memberis releasably securable about the calf of the patient by laces.
 46. (notentered) 47-48. (canceled)